The 5-Minute Butter Trick That's Changed the Way I Cook Chicken
Butter is delicious, but cooking with it — especially over high heat — can be a bit fraught. That’s because butter has a very low smoke point, meaning it doesn’t take very much heat for it to start smoking in the pan. Other fats, like vegetable or olive oil, have high smoke points, so you can pour some in a pan and heat it up without immediately smoking out your kitchen. The problem is, however, that you won’t get that buttery flavor from cooking oil alone.
The answer: clarified butter. It’s butter with the milk solids removed (the source of most of that smoke), which transforms it into the perfect hybrid of butter and cooking oil. With it, you can cook anything you want in butter over high heat without a ton of smoke. Huzzah! Quick note: Clarified butter is different from ghee, in which the butter is cooked until the milk solids have browned before removing them, giving it a darker color and nuttier flavor.
Although you can buy clarified butter at the grocery store, it’s also pretty easy to make at home. It just requires setting aside some time to babysit the butter as it slowly simmers, and skimming the milk solids as they rise to the top. But what if you don’t want to spend half an hour watching butter? Allow me to share with you a better (read: much easier) way.
How to Make Shortcut Clarified Butter
Turns out, you can cut the time required to make clarified butter down to about five minutes by adding one simple pantry ingredient: cornstarch. The developers at Cook’s Illustrated turned me on to this time-saving trick. Just add a bit of cornstarch to the simmering butter and stir. It takes under a minute for the cornstarch to separate the milk solids from the butter. Then just strain the mixture and voila! Shortcut clarified butter.
How to Use Clarified Butter
Shortcut Clarified Butter Recipe
Learn the shortcut to making clarified butter in five minutes.
Cook time 5 minutes
Makes about 3/4 cup
Ingredients
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
Melt 1/2 pound butter in a small saucepan with high sides over medium-low heat.
When the melted butter just begins to simmer, stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch (mixture will foam up). Continue to simmer until the mixture stops foaming, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat.
Place a fine-mesh strainer over a heat-proof bowl and line with a coffee filter or double layer of cheesecloth. Pour the butter mixture through the lined strainer. Discard any solids remaining in the strainer. Once the butter has cooled, transfer to an airtight container.
Recipe Notes
Storing and freezing: Clarified butter can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three months or frozen for up to six months.
Further Reading
The “Beautiful” $3 Flower Tumblers at Walmart People Are Buying 2 at a Time
Tuscan Chicken Is the "Most Delicious" Dinner of All Time, Says Everyone Who's Tried It
Reese’s Just Launched a Limited-Edition Peanut Butter Cup, and It Tastes 4x Better than the Original
